Five Sheets to the Wind

It was a busy, busy Saturday.  We visited Pop at the hospital, where he will remain through the weekend.  He has a number of health concerns, but it appears as if things are headed in the right direction.  As of now, he will not be moved to Miami, nor is surgery required so that is certainly good news.  We continue to pray for his healing and recovery, and your prayers are certainly all appreciated.  He gave us quite the scare Friday morning :/

Donnie went and got a new set of strings for his guitar from Bryan and then he stayed and did some practicing with he and Larry.  Larry (our banjo player) is back in town, and currently has his boat behind Bryan and Polly's house.  He is waiting on a mooring ball at Boot Key Harbor.  He may be there awhile until folks start migrating to the Bahamas and Caribbean.  That typically isn't until the end of February or first of March, after the north winds finally turn.

Tonight was the big debut of Five Sheets to the Wind for this season- Bryan on lead guitar, Donnie on rhythm guitar, Larry on banjo, Penny and Dan alternating on bass, and Dan switching things up between harmonica and mandolin.  The occasion was a Pre Super Bowl Party planned on Paradise Pointe for all of the marina guests.  We found out late in the afternoon that an announcement was also made over the radio net at Boot Key Harbor, so we had no idea how many to expect for the gathering.  It was BYOB and chair, and a finger food to share.  While Donnie was practicing, I made ham/pineapple/cream cheese roll ups, with a dab of mango jam on top as a garnish.  They were delicious, if I say so myself ;)

It was a picture perfect night for some music on Paradise Pointe :)

Though they just arrived in town from NJ this afternoon,
Ken joined in on a few numbers on the beat box.  Behind
him was a ukulele player- I didn't catch his name.  There
were several others who joined in though the course of the
evening- Alan on banjo/mandolin/guitar, Lynn on guitar,
and a guy from Key Colony Beach that was a professional
blues singer.  He killed it on Stormy Monday Blues.  

My Cap'n did an awesome job on Josh Turner's 'Be Your Man.'
Thank you, Rupert, for standing in for him so I could dance to
one of my favorite country songs :)

Susan from Sundance got up and helped them out on
"Me and My Bobby McGee".  Donnie said to me
after it was over, "I was really proud of you for being
quite the social butterfly tonight. I saw you going around
talking to all kinds of people."  Sorry honey, but it was
that half jug of wine doing all the socializing- and there
isn't enough wine to get me up there singing with y'all.

Kenny wore ANOTHER rooster shirt- that's two nights
in a row!  He did it just because he knows how much
I love roosters- um, no.  And this shirt said,
"Handsome Rooster."  Oh, brother.

The "Bad Girls Club"....it all started with Bad Nancy on the far right.  She is
founder and president of the Bad Girls Club.  Momma K is the social
director.  Frannie is the treasurer.  Polly is in charge of food and beverage.
Martina is the head of the Cultural Committee....and Lucile...well,
she's just Bad Lucille- and it's all Bad Nancy's fault!

Cap'n helped to polish off the jug-o'-wine....but just to clarify, he was not
a drunk Cap'n.  He was worn out.  They played for nearly four hours!
There were easily over 100 people in attendance.  I didn't think to count
until after some folks had already started leaving, and I counted 92. In the
end, the band made $15/ each.  I told my honey it's a good thing he's not a
professional musician or we'd starve to death!  I can honestly say that for
them, money is not the motivation.  To be able to entertain an appreciative
crowd, that was up and dancing much of the night was thanks enough!

It was a great evening, with old friends and new ones.  I can't wait to hear them do it all over again.  So far, they have two more events booked! 

G'nite, y'all! (and keep Paps in your prayers, please :)